Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 3 Review: Them’s the Brakes

Yellowjackets Season 3 Episode 3, “Them’s the Brakes,” delivers Lynchian dream sequences with a ferocious turn from Melanie Lynskey. It’s the strongest episode in Season 3 thus far, cultivating the seeds planted in the double-episode premiere, specifically in the ’90s timeline scenes. 

I’m Too Sexy for This Cave 

I love the extended screen time we’re getting for Alexa Barajas, who’s fleshed out Mari beyond your stereotypical ’90s mean girl. She bounces off Steven Krueger’s Ben so well. There’s an inherently dark humor to the opening scene in “Them’s the Brakes,” complete with that bit of slapstick (if you want to call it that) when they both mace each other.

This show masters dark comedy like no other — it encapsulates the macabre humor and sensibilities trauma victims tend to rely on. Then, the series seamlessly dips into drama territory with Ben’s “How is this even real?” monologue, which is heartbreaking. It’s also the first time we, as an audience, hear one of the characters address the narrative for how out-of-this-world it seems. 

But really, that’s the crux of Yellowjackets — what’s fact and what’s fiction. Is this a supernatural manifestation of someone’s trauma, or is it tangible, flesh and blood real? Mari tells Ben there are two versions of reality, which, to me, indicates the former. Trauma informs and shapes your brain, especially in young ones like our teens. 

The series plays with this ambiguity, never leaning more toward one way or another. This is one of my favorite aspects of the show, and I hope it never verifies either way. Let us come to our own conclusions in that regard. 

Earth, Water, Wind, and  Fire 

“Them’s the Brakes” culminates in the aforementioned David Lynch-esque dream sequences. There’s elemental symbolism in these visions, from Akilah getting sucked into the earth to Shauna floating in water and Van almost catching fire. Then, the trio runs out of oxygen in the poisonous gas-filled cave (which certainly explains said visions). 

Fire is already a big element for Van on Yellowjackets. She almost caught fire in the plane wreckage. After getting mauled by wolves, Taissa and the others tried to burn her on a pyre, assuming she was dead. The cabin blazed with her and the teens inside it in the Season 2 finale. That follows her into the present timeline, with her crack about taking a flamethrower to the restaurant and Taissa lighting a candle for her Wilderness chant in “Them’s the Brakes.” 

Given Van’s religious proclivities in the Wilderness, fire makes sense. It cleanses and purifies, at least symbolically. It’s also fascinating to see a subversion of Van and Tai’s beliefs in “It” in the present timeline, with Tai more inclined to believe the Wilderness changed Van’s cancer prognosis. 

You Shouldn’t Play With Dangerous Things 

As for Akilah, earth works as an element. She’s a Girl Scout and animal lover. The final dream sequence in the classroom also feels Akilah-focused. She’s the star of it. Firstly, Jackie (How delightful is Ella Purnell here?) offers her the slap bracelet, and she’s able to slip it on with ease. It doesn’t hurt her. 

Secondly, Lottie instructs Akilah to save Shauna after Jackie attacks her, insisting that if Shauna dies, they all die. This mirrors Lottie seeking out Akilah as her new pupil in the Wilderness. She wants Akilah to learn to connect with It. Even Akilah’s first sequence with the talking llama teases that It’s calling to her. Unfortunately, Lottie’s meddling could be Akilah’s downfall, as “It’s gonna get what It wants.” 

Shauna’s outfit in her dream sequence looks like the white dress Lottie dons for her baptism in Season 1. In addition, the score sounds suspiciously like an inverted, alternate take on the Rosemary’s Baby theme. Of course, Shauna’s baby storyline in Season 2 is very much inspired by this film, so it’s fun to see this thematic continuation.

Yellowjackets always excels at executing the surreal aspects of the narrative. It never shies away from going big. 

Them’s the Brakes

For some episodes, one timeline might come out on top as the stronger arc. However, for this outing, both timelines are on equal footing. The present storyline is just as strong as the ’90s one. As mentioned above, Melanie Lynskey delivers a visceral, raw performance. 

She’s rage personified. It’s interesting to see Teen Shauna’s modus operandi being anger in Season 3, and now Adult Shauna, who normally tamps down her ire, finally releases her rage. Lynskey deftly conveys those 19 months in the Wilderness on Shauna’s face when she spots Jackie’s necklace around Callie’s neck. 

Before giving Lottie the boot, Shauna kicks Misty out of her vehicle, accusing her of messing with her brakes. The Shauna/Misty scenes in the present timeline have offered some wonderful moments of levity this season, and Shauna’s minivan careening through the city is no exception. Christina Ricci and Lynskey are a blast and a half together. 

No-Eyed Man 

Another arc in the adult timeline consists of Taissa — as mentioned above — dabbling in the Wilderness stuff again. One great thing about Tawny Cypress’s layered and nuanced work is that she sometimes has you guessing whether it’s Tai or Other Tai in a scene. A couple of moments in “Them’s the Brakes” made me wonder if Other Tai took control of the wheel, as it were. 

Specifically, when Tai proposes that the Wilderness presented Van’s new cancer prognosis as “a gift.” She suggests that the server’s death was the offering It needed. This leads to potential clarity for the No-Eyed Man and why he’s haunted Tai’s visions for decades. Admittedly, his being simply an actor in an ice cream parlor commercial is an intriguing twist. To top it all off, Van also saw him in the classroom dream sequence with Akilah and Shauna. Interesting that he would appear to her as well. 

No Return, No Return, No Reason 

Rabbit symbolism returns to Yellowjackets with the coyote killing the bunny outside Ozzie’s. If you recall, Jackie’s parents talked about her adoring rabbits. At one point in the early days of the Wilderness era, Jackie insisted rabbits were pointless. Shauna killed a rabbit in the adult timeline in Season 1.

Rabbits can mean many things across different cultures, including fertility, abundance, luck, gentleness, hope, and rebirth. In the case of this series, it feels like a loss of innocence and gentleness. As the adults slowly bring the Wilderness to the present, reverting to their teenage states, and the teens descend further into starvation-fueled madness, that rabbit in the coyote’s mouth might be the last vestige of their innocence. 

Stray Observations: 

• Mari’s “I’m Too Sexy [The Cave Remix]” needs a Spotify release ASAP. She might give Weird Al a run for his money. 
• Izzy’s Cafe, Ozzie’s Homemade Ice Cream Parlor — I love the lack of creativity for these local eatery names. It feels like an inside joke. 
• My girl Misty is a master multitasker. Of course she had the Callie and Lottie situation in hand. Was she unconscious for part of it due to an allergy meds/booze cocktail? Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean she wasn’t pulling the strings in her dreams. 
• Teen Shauna has probably worn Jackie’s butterfly shirt more than anything else on the show. Poor girl. 
• What if the howling/screeches in the Wilderness are just animals? I love that there could be a perfectly logical explanation for the supernatural stuff, but it’s still creepy. 
• Listen, I’m pretending that llama has Richard Kind’s voice. Don’t ask me why. It just makes me giggle. 
• I still think Other Tai torched the cabin. Van might know and is protecting her. I don’t think Ben will come out of this alive, but I don’t want him going down for a crime he didn’t commit. At least if Tai did it, we know she was sleepwalking. 

What did you think of this episode of Yellowjackets? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Yellowjackets drops new episodes every Friday on Paramount+ with SHOWTIME and airs on the network on Sundays at 8 pm EST/PST. 

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